:: Optical delusion ::

Friday, January 23, 2004

Eric Lin speculates in The Feature on the future of cameraphones, now that 2 MP models are arriving in Japan.

Let's forget for a second about how slow US carriers are when it comes to adopting technology like this (and believe me, 90% of the blame lies with the carriers - they have relationships with almost every OEM supplying their Japanese counterparts, and could have comparable models to market only a few months behind them) and, cough, focus on more general issues.

Don't go thinking that a snazzy new phone with a two megapixel sensor will give you the same level of detail as a dedicated two megapixel stand-alone camera. I see two main drawbacks which degrade usability. Whether they are sufficiently inconvenient to hinder adoption I cannot say for certain, though I suspect not.

The first is the poor quality exhibited by camera-phones (and to a lesser extent, digital cameras as a whole) in low-light situations. As Eric points out, new models henceforth will usually include a flash of sorts, but in my experience these have been far too anemic to counteract the problem. As CCD sensors become more and more dense, this issue will intensify. I'm sure with time more powerful flashes will alleviate this weakness.

Second, the obsession with megapixels comes at the expense of overall quality. Autofocus systems will be a big step forward, but more attention needs to be paid to optical components and image processing firmware. As we've seen with that can-do Mars rover, sheer megapixels do not a high-quality picture make - all those stunning panoramas came from a meager 1 MP camera.

Still, these are venial quibbles. In a few years, once they're addressed and the price point comes down, there won't be any reason why the average consumer will have to carry a separate camera and phone.

Posted by morland @ 12:30 PM

:: Comments ::

That's a killer link about the spirit rover. thanks!

Posted by: The Guy Who Lives In Vail on January 23, 2004 04:50 PM

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